Most psycho-babble enthusiasts will tell you grief has several stages. According to one model, I’m smack dab in the middle of Stage 2: Anger. In the immortal words of Cheech and Chong, I’m “sick up and fed” with the course our country has chosen. My Mom taught me that if I don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Sorry Mom, I’m about to unleash some stored up vitriol that has been festering in me for a very long time. I’ve been biting my tongue since the November election for fear of being lumped in with the liberal crowd since they seem to have nothing intellectual to offer. Just emotion. Well, not anymore. Now it’s my turn.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the majority of the voting public consists of nothing but a bunch of whiney, spoiled rotten, lazy ass, complaining, belly-aching, overindulgent, pussies. If you voted for this current president, you belong in this category. The rest of this article is directed at you.

You’re nothing but a bunch of wretched, miserable, cheerless, pathetic, despicable, shameful, low-down, loathsome, nut-jobs, incapable of understanding true logic or even the most basic of economic principles (or basic arithmetic for that matter). You’ve finally done it. You’ve ruined this country and now there’s no turning back. Do you have any idea what $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities means? Well, it means the destruction of our country, that’s what it means.

After you’ve sucked the public tit dry and all your little goodies disappear, I’m sure you’ll still be whining and blaming Bush or anyone else but yourselves. You’ll continue to act out like a two year old in the candy aisle at the grocery store. You’ll continue to cry out “That’s not fair! Wah, wah, wah.”

What, you think it’s not fair because you can’t get a good job? Who told you that was guaranteed? Did you think about that when you decided not to go to college? Or when you chose one of those liberal arts, basket-weaving majors in college? Did you really expect to get a six figure job, just because you want it? Was it the promise of those all important unions that said you’re entitled to an $80,000 salary for putting lug nuts on tires on an assembly line with nothing but a high school education? Did you really think that gravy train would last forever?

Who told you that medical care should be free or an inalienable right? Where in the constitution does it say that? Where does it say you should get paid in perpetuity when you lose your job? Where does it say the government (translate: your fellow tax-paying citizens) should pay for your housing, your food, your child care, and everything else you need?

And do you seriously think those so called evil conservative businesses want to keep you down? Are you not capable of even the most basic critical thinking? Why would they want that? They want you to be prosperous so you can buy more of their stuff. Is that really hard to understand?

What kind of a moron do you have to be to believe that law abiding citizens having guns causes more danger to society? Do you not understand even the most basic of human behavior to know that criminals don’t give a rat’s ass about any laws we pass. There are over 300 million guns in this country. Do you really think criminals won’t get their hands on some of them just because you passed some lame, feel-good legislation? Do you really want them to run free with those guns and prevent common citizens from engaging them to defend themselves?

You complain about your lot in life and about how rough you have it. You poor souls. Do you not understand how it infuriates so many of us to watch you use food stamps while talking on the latest smart phone? You have cars, microwaves, DVD players, iPads, iPhones, food, shelter, and EVERYTHING else you need, and you still complain about how bad you have it? You slime balls. Do you not understand what real poverty is? Do you know that half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day–that millions are actually starving to death every day and dying from lack of clean water. And do you not take any responsibility for your own lot in life? Does it always have to be someone else’s fault? And even if it is someone else’s fault, too bad! Get over it, grow a pair, get up off your asses and do something about it. You selfish bastards. You care about nothing but yourselves while cloaking it in your fantasy world of a “socialist” utopia, yet you don’t have the balls to call it what it is.

You’re entitled to three things in our country: Life, liberty, and the “pursuit” of happiness. Nothing else!

I have one final question for you detestable jerk-wads: What have you done? You’ve really done it now. You’ve done irreparable damage, so now what will you do? I know, you’ll suck it dry until there is nothing left but scraps and you’ll continue to blame everyone but those actually responsible: YOU!

Whatever sympathy I might have had for you in the past, is now gone. I hold you in the lowest regard of all humanity. Perhaps God will choose to turn you idiots back into real humans so you can use the abilities he gave to you to think properly. I have no doubt that God sanctioned this country. This is why America has managed to raise the standard of living for this entire planet, and eased the suffering of millions. I hope He isn’t done. He is our only real hope now.

I don’t know where in these stages of grief falls sadness, but I’m there too. I’m genuinely sad because my children and grandchildren will not have the country I grew up in. I weep for them.

Finally, may God forgive me for this most un-Christian like rant.

For those that find “racism” in every comment, you should know that you greatly diminish the cause of those that want to extinguish it where it really exists.   According to Freud, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

I learned something very important from my youngest daughter yesterday.  Probably a lot more than she would think.

She is 18 and moved away to college last week.  Her passion in life has always been riding horses and showing them.  She began showing horses when she was 7 years old.  Every year, she has competed in numerous horse shows.  Each year, the World’s Championship Horse Show is held in Louisville, Kentucky, near our home.  She has entered every year and to her great disappointment, never won first place.

Long ago, she made it her life’s dream to win a World Championship.  Over the years, it became more and more apparent to me that her chances were low that she would.  In this business, the horses that win are usually very, very expensive.  More expensive than we could afford.  Several years ago, when she told me about her lifetime dream of winning a World Championship, I told her she would probably never win.  She was crushed and ran off crying.  I knew right away I had made one of the worst mistakes I would ever make as a parent.  My intentions were good–I simply didn’t want her to aspire to something that wasn’t possible.  I also felt guilty because I couldn’t afford to buy her a horse that was needed to win.

What I failed to realize in that brief moment, is that she subscribed to the story-book notion that as long as you work hard, believe in yourself, and never give up, you can always achieve your goal.  Being a pragmatist with pessimistic leanings, I subscribed to the “life isn’t fair” theory and I wanted to protect her from further disappointment.  What I told her that day was just plain stupid and it’s something I’ll regret until the day I die.

Despite the growing odds that she may never achieve her goal, she never gave up and she worked very hard at countless lessons and countless horse shows–many of which led to only more disappointment.  She persevered.

I’m one of those parents that NEVER misses the activities of my kids unless something totally unavoidable prevents me from doing so.  So, as the years dragged on, my heart was crushed each time she entered a show that ended in disappointment. I dreaded going to each show, knowing we were getting closer and closer to a lost dream.

Several years ago, we told her once she went off to college, we would no longer be able to afford keeping the horses we had, so just as she began college this year, she entered her last event at the World Championships.  This was going to be her last ride.

What happened next was nothing less than remarkable.

She was entered in a large class of 33 horses.  Her horse had been giving her trouble all year long and the prospects did not look good for the last ride of her career.  Because the class was so large, the class was split into two divisions to compete separately.  She was to ride in the second division.  As the first class was about to enter the arena, she was preparing to warm up her horse just outside the entrance.

Along with the rest of my family, I was anxiously awaiting her ride in the fabled Freedom Hall at the Kentucky State Fair Grounds–hallowed ground among this community of competitors.  Unknown to us as she was preparing to warm up her horse, a trainer from the first division yelled out “I need a rider for our horse!  Right now.”  It turns out, one of the riders had become suddenly ill and could not enter the ring.  If someone did not show her horse, it would be disqualified for later showing.  My daughter’s trainer heard the call for help and said “My rider can do it!”   The other trainer told ours that this horse was game and had mostly only been ridden by professional trainers.  Our trainer responded “Yes, you bet she can!”  Somewhat intimidated, but excited to ride the other horse, my daughter mounted this horse she had never seen before and within seconds, entered the arena with 13 other riders.  My daughter and her trainer instinctively knew that not being able to warm up her own horse would likely mean they would do poorly in the second division.   Besides, who knew, maybe she would have a better chance on this horse she didn’t know.

From that point forward, she dominated the class and was cheered on by the crowd.  And when the announcement of the ribbons came, my little baby girl was announced the winner, a World champion rider.  She smiled and cried her way through the award announcement and her victory pass.  Afterward, she sobbed uncontrollably for nearly 30 minutes.  All those years of hard work had finally paid off and she got her story-book ending in the last ride of her career.

Her tears were mostly tears of joy of course, but combined with thoughts that validated her abilities as a rider.  No more doubts about whether she had not won because of lack of ability.  She had indeed proved her abilities in that single event.  Riding a game horse you’ve never been on before and doing so well is a remarkable feat.

So, what did I learn from my daughter?  Well, if you work hard and never give up, and you believe in yourself (no matter what your Dad says) you can indeed achieve your goal.  I learned this from my daughter.  The very thing I was supposed to teach her.

It later occurred to me that this was a God thing.  No, I don’t think God made her win that championship.  I don’t think God helps people win things as trivial (in the grand scheme of things) as a horse show, but I do think he helps things along that shape a young person’s life.  I have little doubt that winning that championship was more important to her than anyone else at that show.   I think God set some extraordinary things in place to give her the opportunity to do so–to allow her to prove herself.  And when she did, I’m confident that God smiled with the rest of us and said “Well done daughter.  Well done.”

Oh, and Caroline, first I want to say how sorry I am for saying such a terrible thing to you at a such a vulnerable time in your life and when you needed encouragement.  Parents aren’t perfect, and I proved that in spades that day I told you you couldn’t do it.  Secondly, you’ve made me the proudest Dad in the world. Not just because you won.  But because you proved to me and many others that perseverance and hard work will always pay off and you did it with grace, humility, and joy.

I’ve been hearing a lot of griping from the left lately about how President Obama’s “You  Didn’t Build That” speech is being taken out of context and used unfairly in campaign ads.

While the point of context is a good one, it doesn’t diminish what Obama was saying in the overall speech.  Yes, we all know that roads and bridges are important.  And so are teachers.  They all contributed in some way to our successes and failures.  Yes, the Republicans are unfairly taking advantage of the “out of context” remark.  To that I say:  They have no choice but to fight fire with fire.

What he seemed to be saying to me in that speech is that successful business owners and entrepreneurs should stop patting themselves on the back because they’re no smarter than others and they don’t work harder than others.  Here I have to disagree with him vehemently.  Most small business owners do work harder than the general public.  Certainly not many 40 hour weeks in my schedule or other business men and women that I know. As far as smarter?  Many of them are more savvy and more motivated toward success than the general public. I call that smart.

Now, with respect to patting ourselves on the back.  Most of us who’ve been successful don’t do that.  But we don’t like being scolded for our success. He started this class warfare stuff.  We didn’t.  Who was going around bragging about being smarter or working harder before he brought this up?  He said it, but I sure haven’t seen it.  We’ve risked our family’s livelihood, worked 80 hour weeks, done without healthcare, never asked for a handout or bailout from the government, and we’ve believed in and pursued our dreams.  Now that we’ve succeeded (top 5%), we pay 67% of all federal income taxes.  And somehow that’s not our fair share?

The speech in its entirety and in full context was insulting to many of us.

Okay.  I give up fighting the liberals.  Since it appears I cannot convince them that I’m not really an evil guy, I may as well come clean with a full confession.

1. I am rich and I want to stay that way no matter what it takes.  All I want to do is get as much money as I can from the poor and middle class before it all runs out and they can’t buy anything from me again.  Then me and my rich friends can party like the animals that we are and laugh at the great unwashed.
2. Now that I’m rich, I don’t believe I should have to work for any future wealth.  I think I should just sit around and let other people pay my way. After all, it’s become the new American way.
3. I am a businessman.  I could care less about creating jobs, even though doing so would make me richer.  I risked everything I have and worked harder than any of those union thugs and I had no guarantee or health care, retirement, or even an income for that matter.  You see, I really am that stupid.  I finally admit that I have a vastly inferior intellect than all those academicians who’ve never run a business.  They really do understand how to run them better than me.
4. I love raping and pillaging (metaphorically speaking of course).  The only reason my businesses have been successful is because I made poor, stupid people buy things from me.
5. I hate poor people.  They’re all a bunch of lazy no-gooders that deserve only my scraps. I only give more to charity than liberals do because I want to keep up an appearance of caring.
6. I despise old people.  Despite the fact that I have two elderly parents who are far from wealthy, I think they should all eat cat food.  After all, they’re not productive anymore.  Let them die in the streets. Safety nets are for wimps.
7. I’m a Christian–and what could be more stupid than that?  I only hope this growing underclass never finds out that we achieved our success in great part due to our faith.
8. I think capitalism is so overrated.  Why just think, if I keep working at getting richer, I can help create a bigger and bigger underclass that is so dependent on me, they’ll worship at my feet.
9. I hate dogs.  I keep them around only because I like their unconditional devotion to me and I can sick them on poor or old people.  What a hoot!
10. I really don’t care if my kids don’t have as good a life as I have.  I just want to get everyone’s money as fast as I can.  Even that won’t be enough so I’ll just borrow some more and leave the debt to my kids.  I want the last check I write to bounce, then leave my kids nothing but debt.  Who cares if they have to sell off my estate at fire-sale rates and still end up owning good old Uncle Sam for the rest of their lives.  Heck, maybe if they go to jail for not paying it, they’ll learn a little something.  Besides, they didn’t earn it.
11. I hate all immigrants.  They should stop pretending to be something they’re not by working hard and doing jobs that even our own underclass won’t do.  Yes, I’ll hire them to work for me, but only because I like watching people suffer.
12. I hate abortion–but only because that means we’re not raising enough of the underclass to work for and buy stuff from the evil businesses that I run.
13. I am a racist of the highest order.  I haven’t worked well with minorities all my life because I liked them.  I’ve only pretended to be tolerant when my daughters have dated boys of different races.   I really didn’t care about those minority employees or my daughters dating minority boys. I just wanted to keep my eye on them because I knew they were going to steal from me.
14. I believe health care should be for the rich only.  That way, the poor will die off quicker.  Although I will miss making fun of them, it will be a much cleaner world. It’s just a way of speeding up natural selection.

I’ve often thought it would be an interesting exercise to try to re-write the constitution–only to clarify the actual intent by the authors.  There are many source documents (Federalist Papers, etc.) that would help us glean the intent.  Many of our problems stem from people, judges, and legislators trying to bend the meaning of the words to mean what “they” want it to mean. Let’s face it, some people simply don’t like some of the rights afforded in the Constitution (the 2nd Amendment comes to mind).  If it were more clear what the actual meaning of the articles were, there would be far fewer problems.

Unfortunately, including the specificity would require the use of examples, e.g., “No our right to free speech was never meant to allow pedophiles to promote their sick lifestlye on the Internet.”  And with this, leads to more loopholes, because we couldn’t possibly think of all the ways people would want to abuse the “right” provided.

I’m sure there would be a way to do this, but it would take a group of very smart people, of the caliber of our founding fathers, to pull this off.  I know I’m not smart enough to do it, but I truly believe they’re out there.  I’m also confident they would not come from the political realm.  These people would need to be of the strict constructionist camp, not the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.